Karmann roof division goes to Valmet: the Finns take over

D amit is the future of 350 jobs in Osnabrück and of 396 jobs secured in Zary, Poland. However, the Federal Cartel Office, among others, must first approve the deal. The competition authorities had banned a sale to the Karmann competitor Magna in May. They feared a market distortion because then there would only have been two independent manufacturers of convertible roofs in Europe.

No details known

The parties did not provide any details of the contract or the purchase price. It was said that the parties agreed not to disclose this. The works council was certain that the antitrust authorities would approve the sale to Valmet. 'In a positive sense, Valmet meets all the requirements that the Federal Cartel Office listed as prerequisites for takeover in the' Magna proceedings 'at the time,' said Karmann works council chief Wolfram Smolinski.

Just a week ago, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn had one new order for the Karmann roof division announced. The Osnabrück-based company is to develop the roof system for the new Audi A3 convertible. Karmann is currently building roofs for Mercedes, BMW, Renault and Bentley. VW has meanwhile founded a subsidiary on the old Karmann site and plans to start producing the Golf convertible there with 1,000 employees initially.

Valmet was founded in 1968 under the name 'Saab-Valmet' in Uusikaupunki, Finland Swedish-Finnish joint venture founded. The Metso Group is now the owner of Valmet. The Finns have built the Boxster since 1997 and the Cayman for Porsche since 2005.